One of Israel's most prolific mainstream political journalists, Ben Caspit, penned a sharp attack on the idea of exchanging Gilad Shalit for hundreds of terror prisoners in the weekend edition of Maariv. Caspit's article came on the heels of statements by Defense Minister Ehud Barak last week, in which Barak reminded Israelis that “The state of Israel is in a region where there is no pity for the weak and there are no second chances for those who cannot defend themselves” and prodded them to “stop whining.”
Caspit published a head-on attack on the idea of acquiescing to Hamas's demands in the negotiations over Shalit's release, calling the campaign for Shalit's release “an irresponsible public movement that turns the matter of releasing the soldier Gilad Shalit into a national mission of the utmost importance – at the expense of everything, including everything, at any price. People are asked to sign petitions for his return, as if there is someone who is simultaneously signing a petition against his return. As if there is anyone here who does not want Gilad Shalit to come back.”
'Barak was right'
Ehud Barak was right, Caspit added, when he told a student at a high school that there was no way to guarantee his safety when he enlists to the IDF. “That's how it is here. According to the unwritten contract that we were born into, at age 18 everyone (except for the hareidis who riot in Jerusalem) is recruited to the IDF where he does everything possible to keep our only Jewish state peaceful, safe and alive.”
"Some of the recruits are killed in action. Some are injured. Some are taken prisoner. By the way – Shalit was not taken prisoner. He is a soldier who was abducted during a battle, dressed in a tank soldier's jumpsuit with his weapon on him. He was kidnapped by a terror organization whose primary stated aim is to erase Israel off the map.”
'Will they demand Bibi himself?'
Caspit went on: "The price that this organization is demanding for Shalit would cause tremendous strategic damage, put wind in the sails of the next intifada, send a message to every young Palestinian to kill as many Jews as possible (because you get out of jail in the end), destroy Abu Mazen, make Hamas's rule eternal, release hundreds of human satans who slaughtered women and children, and worst of all – it will get the next abduction rolling.”
"What will the price be in the next abduction? What will they demand for the next Shalit? Jerusalem? Maybe Bibi himself? Or, for instance, Israel's disarming itself from nuclear weapons (which it possesses, according to foreign reports)? And what then? Will a public movement crop up with posters and stickers, with an image of Dimona juxtaposed with the eyes of the soldier?”
This is the first time that Caspit – who has traditionally toed a dovish line – has come out against the proposed Shalit deal. Observers of Israeli media saw it as a sign that opinion shapers were slowly moving away from the pacifism that became popular among them in the past decade and back to traditional pro-defense values.